Age of Dragons Online

Chapter 1: Tutorial

Chapter 1

Tutorial

Nadran stared in awe at his surroundings. He found himself standing in a large hill covered with knee-high grass.  There were several other players around him, everyone approximately twenty feet apart. With 25,000 people all spaced this far apart, they must cover quite a large area, he thought.  Next, Nadran looked down at his hand, examining it in amazement. It looked completely real, and moved exactly how he wanted it to. It was virtually (no pun intended) impossible to tell that nothing in this world, himself included, was real.

Nadran looked up at the sky, a beautiful blue with white, puffy clouds floating lazily along through the air. He then looked off into the distance, and was able to catch sight of what seemed to be every terrain imaginable. There were majestic mountain ranges, fertile valleys, forests of every kind, lush green fields, sun-bleached deserts, and frozen lands of ice, as well as plateaus, rivers, lakes, seas, and everything in between. There were even terrains Nadran was pretty sure did not exist in reality, such as forests in strange colors with trees that were hundreds of feet tall, fantastical cities that looked as though they were made by elves, and, as he strained his eyes while looking into the distance, he glimpsed what appeared to be giant floating islands.

Nadran's thoughts were unexpectedly cut off when the air before him suddenly distorted, swirling around in a spiral until it formed a black circular portal about four feet in front of him that seemed to glow with a pitch black light, confusing Nadran as he tried to figure out how anything could possibly glow black. Out of this distortion walked a figure completely shrouded in a black cloak. This figure seemed to emanate a dark aura that caused everyone nearby to unconsciously cower in fear, and Nadran froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an identical figure facing every other player. Some players tried to back away or run, but the being would silently follow them, staying at the same distance away.

Everyone's legs suddenly stopped moving, and the players had no choice but to stare at the figure, surprised and confused by their unexpected paralysis. The figure then began to speak in the same deep voice as the one who had loudly welcomed the players as they entered the game.

"Hello, and welcome once again to ADO. My name is Volzan Crolik. In case that name does not ring any bells, I am the one who created this wonderful game."

Nadran's first thought was who would name their son Volzan?  However, when he remembered who Volzan was, he froze. (Although, as he was already frozen, it did not make much of a difference). Standing boldly before him was the creator of ADO as well as the CEO of Virtual Industries, the company that had released ADO.  He was world-renowned for his accomplishments in virtual technology, truly a genius of rare caliber.

What is going on? Nadran wondered. It was only then that he noticed that while everyone was focusing on Volzan, the sky had darkened dramatically, and a light fog had descended, making the previously beautiful landscape look eerie and menacing.

Nadran no longer had time to think about this, as Volzan quickly resumed speaking. "This game is the pinnacle of my achievements, the product of many years of hard work," he said, and although you could not see his face, you could tell from his voice that he was smiling.

"This game has a very... unique aspect that was not mentioned in any of the information about the game before you entered it," Volzan continued, and Nadran felt an inexplicable chill go down his spine. "I suppose you could call it a hidden feature.  To see what I mean, I want everyone to go to the options tab on the system menu."

A little confused, Nadran held up two fingers in front of his shoulder, like a peace sign with the index and middle fingers touching, or like the sign language letter U. This motion opened the menu screen. Curious and more than a little apprehensive, Nadran tapped on the options tab on the floating blue screen about one and a half feet in front of him. He then looked at the buttons now displayed on the screen. System settings, display settings, sound settings... he read down the list, then suddenly stopped. Wait, where is the logout button?!

Volzan chose this moment to start talking once more.  "As I think most of you have now noticed, there is no logout button. This is for a very simple reason. I am sure that many of you have wondered what it would be like if the MMO you were playing was "real," if you really had to face giant monsters to survive. I am giving you an opportunity. You will all now be able to "live" in this world indefinitely, to step into the shoes of the heroes who save the world from darkness, to become a legend. You will live here, eat and sleep here, fight and possibly die here. You will remain in this game until it is "cleared" by finding and defeating the final boss."

Everyone was shocked into complete silence, except, of course, for Volzan, who continued speaking. "Furthermore, if your "health" reaches zero or if someone from the "real" world attempts to take off or tamper with your virtual reality helmet, a built-in battery will deliver a powerful electrical shock that will travel through your helmet and directly into your brain, and the electric charge will be more than enough to completely destroy your brain and quite possibly melt a hole through your skull as well as severely burning your entire body from the inside out, instantly killing you.  You can think about it like your brain being directly struck by lightning."

Too stunned to react, everyone stared blankly at the cloaked image of Volzan Crolik. However, Crolik was not yet done talking. "Unfortunately, some people outside the game have ignored the explicit warning on the VR helmet, and attempted to remove it from the players' heads. Because of this, 54 people have already lost their lives, and, well, since news travels very fast in this electronic age, I doubt that there will be any more... irreversible disconnections of this nature."

54 have already died?!  Nadran thought in shock. If this is true, this is no longer a game, but a matter of life and death!

"Now," Volzan said as if he were discussing the weather, "On to lighter matters. I am proud to introduce yet another new feature to ADO. Your VR helmets have analyzed each player's physique and brain waves, and every one of you will receive a completely unique set of skills and abilities based on your fighting style. No two players will have the same skills," ADO's creator said excitedly.

Despite the danger, Nadran could not help but be intrigued by this. I wonder what my abilities will be, he thought.  Wait, I can't think about that at a time like this! he scolded himself, trying to keep his idle thoughts separate from the details of this new reality.

"This game works like most MMO video games, with leveling, quests, etc.," Volzan said. "However, in ADO there will be a new type of NPC (Non-Player Character) enemy that is not found in any other game in existence. These characters will level up as well, and they have skills similar to yours. However, they are with the Forces of Darkness that are trying to destroy the world. They will be very hard to destroy."

"You will now be transported to your starting location, which will vary player to player. Oh, and one last thing I should probably mention," he said, his voice becoming serious once more. "Safe zones, which are places where you can stay in most games that offer complete protection from monsters, such as cities or areas where you receive quests, do not exist in this game. You can be attacked anywhere, and by anything, other players included. Always be on your guard."

Everything slowly became black as the teleportation started, and Nadran felt like he was floating through the air. "The rest you can discover for yourself," Volzan's now disembodied voice said. "This concludes the ADO tutorial. Good luck, have fun, and try not to die!"